1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, a printer, and an image processing method to transform a captured image into a painterly image.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional digital camera selects a desired point for ranging from a plurality of points to focus on a target object, and thus captures an image that focuses on the target object.
A transformation technology is proposed to generate a painterly image that imitates characteristics of a painting drawn by a painter in a simulated manner (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-213598 below, for example). Thus, the transformation technology can transform an image captured by the digital camera into a painterly image.
The transformation technology, however, imitates characteristics of a painting drawn by a specific painter in a simulated manner for an entire image. Thus, even if a plurality of objects exists in an image at different distances from a person who captures the image, the same characteristics are applied to all the objects in image transformation. Therefore, when a plurality of objects exist at different shooting distances in an image, it is not possible to change the way of image transformation depending on the shooting distance of an object. Furthermore, a three-dimensional painterly image cannot be obtained.